College football returns this week with some interesting match-ups to get fans excited for the season ahead. Western Kentucky and Austin Peay get the honor of being the very first game to kickoff the 2022 season. The Hilltoppers will host the Governors for a kickoff at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET) in Bowling Green. Meanwhile, four other Conference USA teams will be opening their respective seasons during week zero as FAU hosts Charlotte and UTEP welcomes North Texas.
For three quarters of that last group, it will mark the beginning of their final seasons in C-USA as the Owls, 49ers, and Mean Green are all headed up to The American, beginning in July 2023.
Leading the WKU Football program for his fourth season at the helm, Tyson Helton is now the first head coach since David Elson (2003-09) to spend more than three seasons at WKU. Helton has 23 wins through three seasons and will be in pursuit of Elson who earned 30 victories in his first four years - the best four-year start to a coaching career in program history.
After going 0-12 against non-conference foes during its first three years in an FBS conference, WKU has turned it around against teams from Group of Five or FCS conferences, going 22-8 against them since 2012. From 2012 through the 2017 regular season, the Hilltoppers posted a 16-1 record against such teams, but since the 2017 Cure Bowl, WKU has a 6-6 mark in the past 12 such games. The Hilltoppers are 13-3 in home games against non-conference Group of Five or FCS teams in that time frame.
"Everybody knows we were really really good on offense last year. We have some pieces left and a lot of turnover and stuff, but I'm really excited about the guys we have in here. Coach Helton has done a great job of assembling a staff that works together with a lot of continuity," said Co-Offensive Coordinator Ben Arbuckle. "Frankly, we're going to just try and put our guys in the best position to be successful and score enough points to win the game, whatever that might be."
Western Kentucky is looking to build on a successful 2021 season that saw the Hilltoppers win the Boca Raton Bowl by beating Appalachian State, 59-38, and bringing home another postseason prize for the ever-growing trophy case. Quarterback Bailey Zappe completed his WKU playing career in style by tossing 422 passing yards and recording six touchdowns to become the all-time leader in single season passing yards and passing touchdowns at the FBS level.
Austin Peay enters the new season after going 6-5 overall, and 4-2 in conference action in 2021. The Governors are coached by Scotty Walden who took over the program in November of 2020, right before the team started playing in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Govs went 4-2 in that condensed spring season before their fall 2021 campaign.
Surprisingly, there is a lot of history between these two teams. Although, geography does lend to some short trips between the two campuses. Austin Peay is WKU's sixth-most common opponent with 42 all-time meetings between the two football programs. Heading into Saturday's big kickoff, the Hilltoppers lead the all-time series, 35-6-1.
The Governors at Hilltoppers game kicks off at 11 a.m. CT, 12 p.m. ET on CBSSN.
